Boston to consider outdoor smoking ban

BOSTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Hoping to follow the lead of communities nationwide, two Boston city councilors say they are proposing to ban smoking in public parks and on beaches.

Councilors Felix G. Arroyo and Salvatore LaMattina, both asthma sufferers especially sensitive to secondhand smoke, took the first step toward a ban on tobacco use in some of the last remaining public spaces where lighting up is still allowed, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

The councilors have filed an order for a public hearing on their measure, which would still allow smokers to light up on city sidewalks.

"We want these public places to be smoke-free so that everyone can enjoy our parks, can enjoy our beaches, can enjoy our public spaces without injury to their health," said Arroyo, a first-term councilor at large.

"We don't want to expose our young children at the tot lot," he said. "We don't want to expose families at the beach to smoke."

If the ban is passed, Boston will join cities large and small in outlawing smoking in such places.

Last week New York became the latest big city to eliminate smoking in parks and beaches and even extended the ban to Times Square.

About 500 cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, have banned smoking in parks, classifying it as a public nuisance and health threat similar to the consumption of alcohol, the Globe reported.